CLEVELAND, Ohio — If you’re going fishing the next couple of days, the weather is going to be great and you can take your pick of waters. They’re all giving up some of the best catches this spring.
Before the weekend is over, though, rain is expected, and on Sunday some big westerly winds could make the Lake Erie fishing difficult. The river fishing in Northeast Ohio will be offering a combination of steelhead trout and early arrivals of trophy spawning smallmouth bass, with crappie biting in the Lake Erie marinas.
On the Maumee and Sandusky rivers, the walleye run has been fair to very good, depending on the location. The white perch and white bass fishing will soon be spectacular on those rivers.
Inland lake crappie are moving to the shoreline cover to spawn, and good catches have been reported around the Portage Lakes and Mosquito and Pymatuning lakes. The spring largemouth bass are also biting on the inland reservoirs, with early season tournaments reporting some surprising weights.
Walleye on fire around Lake Erie reefs: The heart of the walleye spawning season on the Lake Erie reefs off Port Clinton and around the Lake Erie islands is just beginning, and the fishing this week has been fantastic.
Anglers will have to be cautious over the weekend, with rain and brisk winds in the forecast, but near-shore walleye fishermen should have a great Saturday of action.
Fishermen’s Warehouse in Port Clinton is reporting an early walleye bite just north of town, and consisted limit catches on their party fishing boats. So many limits of walleye have been reported this week by Fisherman’s What that party boats will soon be expanding to two-a-day trips at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Avon Point to Huron a Lake Erie hot spot: The best open water reports by Lake Erie walleye fishermen this week have been coming from the 35- to 45-foot depths between Avon Point and Huron. Trolling shallow-running plugs set to run in the top 10 to 15 feet of water has been best, and make sure the crank baits swimming behind the boat have a bit of white paint on them.
Some shoreline anglers are casting from the piers and break walls in Cleveland Harbor, including Edgewater and East 72nd, and Wildwood fishermen are doing well. The catches have ranged from steelhead trout and northern pike to largemouth bass, rock bass and a few sheepshead and catfish.
Steelhead starting to thin out in rivers: The surprisingly warm weather and blue skies have begun to clear river waters and push steelhead trout in the Northeast Ohio rivers and streams to begin heading back to Lake Erie for the summer.
There are are still plenty of steelhead trout in the rivers, though, and weekend rains could lure a few newcomers to run up the rivers. The trout will chase spoons and in-line spinners, with fly anglers tying on egg patterns, small streamers and nymphs.
Spring rainbow trout stockings: The Ohio Division of Wildlife’s spring stockings of foot-long rainbow trout will continue this week, and plenty of the trout released by the Cleveland Metroparks are still biting in Wallace Lake and the East Branch of the Rocky River.
State stockings of trout are set this week at Little Turtle Pond in Summit County on Saturday; East Harbor State Park in Ottawa County on April 22; and the Ohio & Erie Canal Pond, in the Cleveland area on May 19. Tiny lead-head jigs in the 1/32- and 1/64-ounce size are good choices under a float while allowing the bait to tick the river or lake bottom. Anglers should bait jigs and bare hooks with maggots, a waxworm, salmon egg-sized plastic beads or emerald shiner minnows.
Largemouth bass tips and tricks: The Ohio Division of Wildlife will encourage fledgling fishermen to get ready for the spring and summer fishing season for largemouth bass with a free class on Wednesday, April 25 from 6-9 p.m. at Brushwood Lodge in the Furnace Run Metro Parks in Akron. The class will cover bass ecology and biology, angling equipment and lure selection.
Experts will tackle the various Northeast Ohio fishing destinations for big bass, and provide tips for locating bass in inland lakes. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Call Ken Fry at 330-245-3030 or register online at wildohio.gov.
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